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Complaint no. LA/SB/339 Concerning an alleged contravention of The Councillors' Code of Conduct by Councillor Andrew Farquhar of Scottish Borders Council

1. Complaint number LA/SB/339 alleged a contravention of the Councillors' Code of Conduct ("the Code") by Councillor Andrew Farquhar ("the respondent").

2. Although the complainant had not alleged a contravention of a specific section or sections of the Code, the complaint was to the effect that the respondent had breached the terms of the key principle in paragraph 2.1 of the Code which deals with Respect, and paragraph 2.2 of the Code, which also deals with the general principles upon which the Code is based.

3. The person complaining ("the complainant") alleged that in June 2005 the respondent in his capacity as a Scottish Borders councillor attended a meeting of Hawick Community Council. (The complainant is the Chairman of Hawick Community Council and for two years until May 2005 was the Honorary Provost of Hawick). She alleged that at that meeting during heated discussions on the "town issues" section of the agenda the respondent accused her of using her position as honorary provost to instigate a public meeting for her own ends. She also alleged that he stated that she and her company (of which she is the major shareholder) had deliberately set out to prevent development adjacent to their premises to the detriment of further education in the Borders. Further she claimed that profiteering was alleged by the respondent.

4. It was clear that the background to this complaint was the failure of the complainant in May 2005 to be re-elected as the Honorary Provost of Hawick. It seemed that a number of her fellow Community Councillors did not believe that the outcome of the election was a true reflection of public opinion in Hawick. This in turn lead to a deterioration in relationships between Community Councillors in Hawick and the town's elected Scottish Borders Councillors, (those Scottish Borders Councillors having been members of the Provost's Council and having voted for Councillor McCartney as the Honorary Provost).

5. In all the circumstances it did not seem unreasonable that the respondent felt it necessary to explain his position at the meeting of the Community Council in June 2005 when he was confronted with a "motion of no confidence in the elected Councillors". However, the complainant and the respondent were at odds as to the words which he used on this occasion and none of the other witnesses had a clear recollection of what he said. The contents of the Minute did not assist in this connection as they were written in general rather than specific terms. It was clear that the complainant inferred from the words used by the respondent that he failed to show the appropriate respect and was casting aspersions on her honesty and integrity. Without knowing and being able to consider the words used by the respondent it was impossible to establish whether this was a fair and indeed inevitable inference.

6. Accordingly while I was satisfied that what took place was a heated discussion which became too personalised I was not satisfied that the evidence established on a balance of probabilities that the respondent failed to respect the complainant and to treat her with the appropriate level of courtesy. Furthermore this complaint contained no allegations of misconduct under any specific section of the Code (such as section 3 which deals with General Conduct) other than section 2 which deals with the key principles rather than the specific rules of conduct.

7. Having considered all information, I concluded that Councillor Andrew Farquhar had not contravened the Councillors' Code of Conduct.

D Stuart Allan,
Chief Investigating Officer.
Forsyth House
Innova Campus
Rosyth Europarc
Rosyth
Fife
KY11 2UU
07 December 2005